Running and cleaning vacation rentals on Cozumel, Mexico, an island with 1,064 active listings
If you manage vacation rentals on Cozumel, you're working on an island where the state tourism office counted 1,064 active rentals on April 10, 2026, at 53% occupancy and a five-day average stay. Nearly nine in ten are rented whole, and the same island took in 4.73 million cruise passengers in 2025, according to the state port authority, Apiqroo. Upbridge's AI operations assistant, Cleo, works over WhatsApp with vacation rental operators and cleaning companies and organizes the cleanings and the inventory for each place.
The rules here
State law applies on Cozumel, and the town is writing rules of its own for rentals. We checked both on October 22, 2026.
| Topic | What it says | Status | Since | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| State rules | The state tourism registry, the lodging tax and the fines are the same as everywhere else in Quintana Roo. We explain them on the state page. | In force | March 5, 2024 | Quintana Roo |
| Town rules | In July 2026 Cozumel's tourism director, Elías Farah Ceh, said the town is drafting rules for rentals booked through platforms. The plan is to set out zones where they're allowed, in buildings or apartments built for it with the safety standards a hotel has to meet, and to require a civil protection inspection, an operating license and payment for trash collection. He gave no date for it to take effect. | Bill, not law | July 2026 | Ruptura 360 |
At the same meeting the director put the island's hotel stock at about 4,000 rooms and its vacation rental offers at 800 to 950, fewer than Sedetur counts. Each office counts its own way, so those figures shouldn't be added up or set against each other.
Platform withholding for the SAT is national, and it's on the Mexico vacation rentals page.
This is not legal or tax advice, and Upbridge does not file anything for you: no registrations and no tax returns.
How it works on the ground
For the week of February 3 to 9, 2025, Apiqroo expected 36 cruise ships at Cozumel, and on the Monday alone five came in, carrying close to 18,000 passengers going by each ship's capacity (Ruptura 360). If a checkout and a check-in land on a day like that, give the cleaning more room and send your guest directions to the house well ahead of time.
In the Sedetur table, guests on Cozumel stay five days and the most common minimum is two nights. That means fewer checkouts a week than in Cancún, but each one takes longer, because five days leave more laundry and more trash than one or two nights do.
Anything from the mainland crosses by boat. Besides the passenger ferries from Playa del Carmen, the Calica to Cozumel route carried 86,093 passengers on 1,098 trips between January 1 and April 12, 2026, according to Apiqroo (PDCC, citing REPORTUR). So it pays to keep spare sheets and supplies on the island instead of waiting on the next crossing.
Where Upbridge fits
We connect your Guesty, Hostaway, Lodgify or Uplisting calendar, or import your iCal, and every checkout creates its cleaning task. A lot happens in a five-day stay, so your cleaner follows the photo checklist room by room on their phone, and you see the report with the time it was finished.
With inventory per property you know what's left in each place. What you set up is deducted after each stay, and you get a WhatsApp alert before something runs out, with time to bring it over on the boat.
In the guest guide we put how to get to the house and how to get in, in Spanish or English. If a guest wants an early check-in or a late checkout, they pay for it on the Upbridge page and the task gets assigned.
If you manage vacation rentals or run a cleaning company on Cozumel, Upbridge can help make sure every checkout gets checked and that you don't run out of sheets in the months with the most cruise ships.
If you run a cleaning company on Cozumel
With five-day stays your team does fewer turnovers than on the mainland, but each one runs longer, and anything left behind in Playa del Carmen costs a boat trip to bring over. With the cleaning company account you see every client's bookings in one calendar, whether each owner uses an iCal or a PMS, and the client stays yours.
Other towns in Quintana Roo
Playa del Carmen · Isla Mujeres · Cancún · Tulum · Puerto Morelos · Bacalar
Questions about running rentals on Cozumel
How many vacation rentals are there on Cozumel?
Sedetur counted 1,064 active on April 10, 2026, 87% of them rented whole. In July 2026 the town's tourism director spoke of 800 to 950 offers, counted a different way.
Does Cozumel have a vacation rental regulation?
Not yet. In July 2026 the town said it is drafting one, with permitted zones, an operating license, a civil protection inspection and a trash collection fee, but gave no date. Until then, Quintana Roo state law applies.
How many cruise passengers come to Cozumel each year?
In 2025, 4.73 million passengers arrived on about 1,300 ships, 2.3% more than in 2024, according to Apiqroo. December was the busiest month, with 162 ships.
Sources
Checked on October 22, 2026
- Sedetur, "Rentas vacacionales en Quintana Roo, 10 de abril de 2026", a table in the Tulum Tourism Office weekly report, published April 2026.
- Ruptura 360, Agencia SIM, "Regulación de rentas vacacionales en Cozumel frenará competencia desleal y especulación inmobiliaria", July 22, 2026.
- Mexico Business News, "Cozumel Welcomes 4.73 Million Cruise Passengers in 2025", January 13, 2026.
- Ruptura 360, "Prevén que Cozumel reciba 36 cruceros en siete días", February 4, 2025.
- PDCC, citing REPORTUR, "Giro en Cozumel: más cruceros este año pero menos pasajeros totales", April 20, 2026.